Meanings
present singular third person saturates · participle present saturating · participle past saturated · past saturated
- transitiveTo cause to become completely permeated with, or soaked (especially with a liquid).
Rain saturated their clothes.
3 more examples
After walking home in the driving rain, his clothes were saturated.
Suppose, on the contrary, that a piece of charcoal saturated with hydrogen gas is put into a receiver filled with carbonic acid gas, […]
1815, Annals of Philosophy, volume 6, page 332Innumerable flocks and herds covered that vast expanse of emerald meadow, saturated with the moisture of the Atlantic.
1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLCSynonyms: drench, impregnate, soak
- figurativelytransitiveTo fill thoroughly or to excess.
Modern television is saturated with violence.
- transitivechemistryTo satisfy the affinity of; to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold.
One can saturate phosphorus with chlorine.
- transitiveengineeringTo render pure, or of a colour free from white light.
plural saturates
- chemistrySomething saturated, especially a saturated fat.
Through formation of a double bond, stearic acid (18:0), a saturate, is converted to acid (18:1), a monounsaturate.
1999, Tom Brody, Nutritional Biochemistry, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 3631 more example
We estimate from Table 4 that the average deuterium content in the saturate is approximately 1.1 when palladium is the catalyst, 1.6 when platinum is the catalyst, and 1.7 when rhodium is the catalyst. If there were only deuterium on the surface, the saturate would average 2 deuteriums.
1973, Paul Nels Rylander, Fourth Conference on Catalytic Hydrogenation and Analogous Pressure Reactions
comparative more saturate · superlative most saturate
- Saturated, wet, soaked.
The innocent are gay—the lark is gay, / That dries his feathers, saturate with dew, / Beneath the rosy cloud, while yet the beams / Of dayspring overshoot his humble nest.
1785, William Cowper, “The Task”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 23- broadlypoeticDripping with, covered with, exuding (something) [with with].
There she lay, […] Wax-white, seraphic, saturate with the sun O' the morning that now flooded from the front And filled the window with a light like blood.
1868, Robert Browning, “VI. Giuseppe Caponsacchi.”, in The Ring and the Book. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., →OCLC, page 226, line 1518
- biologyVery intense.
saturate green
- obsoletechemistrySaturated.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo cause to become completely permeated with, or soaked (especially with a liquid).
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsaturātus
- Middle Englishsaturat(e)“satiated, satisfied”
- Englishsaturate
The adjective is first attested in the second part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English, the verb in 1538, the noun in 1921; inherited from Middle English saturat(e) (“satiated, satisfied”), borrowed from Latin saturātus, perfect passive participle of saturō (“to fill, satisfy, quench”) (see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3)), from satur (“full”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian пропивам се, просмуквам се
- пропивам се (propivam se)to become penetrated or soaked
- просмуквам се (prosmukvam se)to become penetrated or soaked
- насищам (nasištam)(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Esperanto saturi
- saturi(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Finnish kyllästää, kastella läpimäräksi
- kyllästääto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- kastella läpimäräksito cause to become penetrated or soaked
French saturer, saturer
- saturerto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- saturerto fill thoroughly or to excess
German sättigen, sättigen
- sättigento cause to become penetrated or soaked
- sättigen(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Greek κορεννύω
- κορεννύω (korennýo)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
Hungarian telít
- telítto cause to become penetrated or soaked
Norwegian gjennomvæte, mette
- gjennomvæteto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- mette(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Persian سیرشدن
- سیرشدن (siršodan)(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Polish nasycać, nasycić
- nasycaćto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- nasycićto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- nasycać sięto become penetrated or soaked
- nasycić sięto become penetrated or soaked
- wypełniaćto fill thoroughly or to excess
- wypełnićto fill thoroughly or to excess
- nasycać(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
- nasycić(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
- wysycać(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
- wysycić(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Portuguese saturar, saturar
- saturarto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- saturar(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Romanian satura
- satura(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Russian пропи́тывать, пропита́ть
- пропи́тывать (propítyvatʹ)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
- пропита́ть (propitátʹ)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
- насыща́ться (nasyščátʹsja)to become penetrated or soaked
- насы́титься (nasýtitʹsja)to become penetrated or soaked
- пропи́тываться (propítyvatʹsja)to become penetrated or soaked
- пропита́ться (propitátʹsja)to become penetrated or soaked
- насыща́ть (nasyščátʹ)(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
- насы́тить (nasýtitʹ)(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Scottish Gaelic sàsaich
- sàsaichto cause to become penetrated or soaked
Spanish empapar, saturar
- empaparto cause to become penetrated or soaked
- saturarto fill thoroughly or to excess
- saturar(chemistry) to cause a substance to become inert by chemical combination with all that it can hold
Ukrainian просо́чувати, просочи́ти
- просо́чувати (prosóčuvaty)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
- просочи́ти (prosočýty)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
- наси́чувати (nasýčuvaty)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
- насити́ти (nasytýty)to cause to become penetrated or soaked
Cite this entry
saturate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saturate
“saturate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saturate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saturate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saturate.
Source: saturate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.